The invention relates to a mount for telescopes. Such mounts consist primarily of the supports for two shafts which are perpendicular to each other; one of the shafts is connected with a fixed base while the second is connected with the telescope, and the shafts have separate drives by which the telescope can be swung for observation.
In presently known mounts, the supports for the polar shaft and for the declination shaft are contained in separate assemblies which are at a relatively large distance in space from each other. These arrangements, as described, for instance, in West German Pat. No. 1,940,657, result in a rather substantial manufacturing expense since both support components must be manufactured with the high precision which is necessary for tracking by astronomical telescopes. The same requirements as to precision are also present in connection with the mounting of the telescope, i.e., the orientation of the two assemblies with respect to each other.
In addition to the requirements as to precision in connection with the manufacture and mounting, it must be borne in mind that the weight of the telescope in the context of correspondingly large distances between the two assemblies may cause elastic deformations of the mount, which deformations can be kept within reasonable limits only at high expense.